North Korea estimated today that last week's massive train explosion caused about €293 million in damage, an announcement that could be part of an effort to garner as much aid as possible for the impoverished nation.
Though international aid efforts are still gearing up, the value of relief goods pledged so far by the international community falls far short of the North Korean estimate.
It was unclear exactly how North Korea arrived at the damage estimate, though it said more than 30 public buildings and houses for at least 8,100 families were destroyed.
The blast was equivalent to "about 100 bombs each weighing one ton" going off at the same time, said KCNA, the North 's official news agency.
The explosion at the railway station in Ryongchon last Thursday left at least 161 people dead and injured 1,300 others, aid agencies have said, citing North Korean officials. The North blamed the blast on workers who knocked train wagons carrying oil and chemicals against power lines.
Koh Yu-hwan, a South Korean expert on the North , said the government in Pyongyang was giving a detailed report on the damages because it desperately needs international aid, and also because it probably hopes to change its reclusive image.